Just Who Is My Neighbor?

Pope Benedict argues that it is not enough to simply love

other Catholics or Christians.  That would be too easy. 

Jesse's thoughtful posting
from earlier this week drew me back to Pope Benedict's encyclical "Deus
Caritas Est."  In this penetrating work, the Pope meditates on the
meaning of Jesus's central command to "love thy neighbor." 

Pope Benedict intentionally defines the idea of "neighbor" broadly.  He
says clearly, "Anyone who needs me, whom I can help, is my neighbor." 
He continues, "The parable of the Good Samaritan remains as a standard
which imposes universal love towards the needy whom we encounter 'by
chance,' whoever they may be."

In short, Pope Benedict argues that it is not enough to simply love
other Catholics or Christians.  That would be too easy.  Anyone can
love a friend or a fellow believer.  Rather, the true Christain loves
and serves the stranger (especially the stranger one is most naturally
inclined to distrust or hate).

Furthermore, this love transcends mere obligation.  In the Pope's view,
it naturally flows from a love of mankind derived from a profound love
of God and a deeply internalized sense of Jesus's teachings and
example.  Benedict explains, "For the Church, charity is not a kind of
welfare activity which could equally well be left to others, but is a
part of her nature, an indispensible expression of her very being."

One can surely hear echoes of the Pope's sentiment in Senator Obama's
keynote speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2004.  Obama
explained:

"It's not enough for just some of us to prosper.  For alongside
our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American
saga.

A belief that we are connected as one people.  If there's a child
on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even
if it's not my child . . . It's that fundamental belief — I am my
brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country
work.  It's what allows us to pursue our indidivual dreams, yet still
come together as a single American family." 

This is clearly the soul of the Democratic Party, but importantly,
Pope Benedict also places a similar teaching at the center of his
papacy.